Douluo: The Martial Soul Asura Armor, a Good Spirit Turning Evil

The silence on the sidelines lasted for a full three seconds.

Wu Ming stood there, his face ashen.

Her third spirit ring was still slowly rotating at her feet, the golden flame that was only half-lit was stuck there like a bird with its throat being choked.

"I……"

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something to salvage the situation, but her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

Just then, a lazy voice drifted in from the entrance of the Soul Arena.

"The loss was not unjust."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

An old man leaned against the door frame at the entrance, holding a wine gourd in his hand. His robes were wrinkled, and his hair was disheveled and hanging over his shoulders, as if he had just been fished out of some wine vat.

Xuanzi.

An elder of the Sea God Pavilion in the Inner Court, the head of the Shrek Academy's inspection team, a level 98 Super Douluo, and his martial soul is "Gluttonous Divine Ox".

He strolled in, his shoes shuffling on the ground, seemingly oblivious to the stares from the inner disciples around him.

"Wu Ming, do you know how you lost?"

Wu Ming bit her lip and remained silent.

Xuanzi took a swig of wine and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Your Golden Crow Fire is not weak, and your soul power is higher than his. But from the very first move, you've been following his rhythm."

He extended a withered finger and pointed at Duanmu Yan, "This kid isn't going to fight you head-on at all; he's parrying your moves."

"His first punch forced you to retreat, turning your offensive into a defensive stance. When the fire whip came, he teleported away, causing your whip to hit empty air. By the time you turned around, he had already seen through the path of your soul power flow."

Xuanzi took another swig of wine and let out a burp.

"Your every move is stronger than his, but you hit him where he doesn't want to. He's using the least amount of effort to exploit your biggest weakness. This isn't a difference in soul power, it's a difference in combat awareness."

He glanced at Wu Ming, his tone unusually serious.

"You've been in the inner courtyard for so long, fighting in fair and square arena battles. But there's no way around it, this kid was raised on the streets with his life on the line."

Wu Ming fell silent.

Xuanzi turned his head and looked at Duanmu Yan.

A glint of light flashed in his cloudy old eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

"Such a genius should stay at Shrek Academy and fight for Shrek's honor!"

Xuanzi thought to himself.

However, reality and imagination are always different.

So much time has passed, and neither Yan Shaozhe nor Qian Duoduo has been able to completely win over Duanmu Yan and Ye Guyi to Shrek Academy, which is truly disappointing.

The subsequent training was unremarkable.

Duanmu Yan retreated to a corner, stood against the wall, and watched the others take turns going up in the order drawn by lot.

Wu Ming played two more matches after that, but his performance was clearly affected. He was suppressed by Han Ruoruo for half a quarter of an hour before he regained his rhythm.

Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochen's group were having a lively fight, with flames and frost flying all over the field and the protective shields buzzing.

Duanmu Yan didn't look at it very carefully.

He mentally reviewed the few stabs he had just made.

The Heavenly Demon Blade felt smoother than he had expected when it cut through the flames.

It wasn't a difference in soul power, but rather that after the formation of his second spiritual sea, his control over soul power had reached a new level of precision.

The judgment that each cut occurred at a point where soul power flowed was correct.

However, the third cut could have been half an inch deeper, preventing Wu Ming from even having a chance to activate his spirit ring.

He looked up when Ye Guyi came on stage.

Her opponent was Chen Zifeng, level 57, who was also a strong attacker.

Ye Guyi's fighting style wasn't particularly elegant, but it was very effective. The Angelic Martial Soul made Chen Zifeng very uncomfortable, and the battle was over in three minutes.

As she stepped off the stage, she glanced at Duanmu Yan, who nodded slightly.

Then came the simulations of three-player and team battles.

Zhang Lexuan dismantled and reorganized the team, trying out three different formations.

Duanmu Yan was assigned to a team with Ma Xiaotao and Chu Qingtian, playing the defensive counter-attacking style of Han Ruoruo's group.

He didn't put in much effort.

He accepted the challenges he was given and yielded the positions he was entitled to, completing his tasks in a proper and competent manner.

When Ma Xiaotao got carried away and tried to charge forward, he used teleportation twice to fill the gaps behind her.

Han Ruoruo glanced at him after the match but said nothing.

Training ended as the sun began to set.

Zhang Lexuan summarized it simply, saying nothing more than the old clichés of unfamiliarity with the coordination and unstable rhythm.

The group dispersed in twos and threes; some went to the cafeteria, while others stayed behind for extra practice.

Duanmu Yan turned and left.

Ye Guyi followed for two steps, and judging from his appearance, she knew where he was going next.

"Go to the Soul Guidance Department?"

"Um."

"Then I'll head back now."

Duanmu Yan nodded and left the arena without looking back.

Someone behind him glanced at his back and muttered, "Why does this guy act like everyone owes him money?" He was then nudged by the person next to him, and his voice was lowered.

Duanmu Yan didn't hear it, and even if he had, it wouldn't have mattered.

The Soul Guidance Department's experimental building is located in the outer courtyard. The facilities there are much older than those in the inner courtyard's teaching buildings, and half of the lighting soul guidance devices embedded in the walls are unevenly lit.

When he pushed the door open, the trainee on night duty was dozing off. He looked up and saw it was him, paused for a moment, and then immediately saluted him respectfully.

"Senior Duanmu, you've arrived..."

Duanmu Yan went up to the third floor and knocked on the door of the vice president's office.

"Come in."

Qian Duoduo's voice came from inside, full of energy.

Duanmu Yan pushed open the door and went in.

Qian Duoduo was sitting at the table flipping through a set of blueprints. There were seven or eight sheets spread out on the table, with the edges curled up.

He looked up at the person who had come in, and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, what a rare guest."

Duanmu Yan sat down opposite him. "I promised you, so I came to see you."

Qian Duoduo pushed the blueprints aside and looked him up and down. "Today should be training day, right?"

"Yeah, just finished." Duanmu Yan sat down opposite him. "I just stopped by to check it out."

Qian Duoduo pushed the blueprints aside and looked him up and down. "I heard you went to look for that Ranked Soul-Devouring Blade the other day?"

"Um."

Duanmu Yan Douluo Continent

Qian Duoduo raised her eyebrows and leaned forward slightly. "Where's the thing? Did you find it? Let me see."

Duanmu Yan took something out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

The cyan blade gleamed with a warm luster under the light, and the faint golden patterns on the blade were faintly visible, flowing like ripples on water.

The knife lay quietly on the table, exuding a restrained yet gentle aura of life.

Qian Duoduo frowned.

He picked up the knife, examined it over and over several times, and then leaned closer to scrutinize the patterns on its blade.

"Hey Duanmu, I want to see that Soul-Devouring Carving Knife. What is this thing you have?"

"Hiss, but you know what, this knife seems to be something special. The vitality on it is even more concentrated than Lao Zhuang's Tree of Life Martial Soul."

"This is the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife you spoke of..."